Glass building construction



July 2, 1946. v J. c. HUBER, JR

' GLASS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed June 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet lJUEEFH l1. HUBE J P July 2, 1946. J. c. HUBER.- JR 2,403,359

GLASS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION awe/rm JljEEPH E. HUBEPNV JP Patented July2, 1946 Joseph C. Huber, Jr., La Porte, Ind.

Application June 21, 1943, Serial No. 491,609 g 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to building construction.

This invention has utility in the matter of assembly of strips, plates,panels and sheet elements into a structure; more particularly ofvitreous material, as glass. Hereunder, in the instances from the fiat,with range for adaptation in dimension, there is eliminated involveddetails. Accordingly, one having the urge to build, may, consistentlywith the simplified program hereunder, proceed as to a desired lay-outor plan, set'such up for habitancy, out-building, or even into houslugsfor factory, oflice building, hospital, church,

' school, theatre, or any other type of building. The glass building issanitary, dust proof, vermin-proof, fire-proof, water-proof, permanent,requires no upkeep, will not deteriorate from rust, moisture, dry rotorother causes; and is susceptible to taking down and're-setting withoutloss, muss or rubbish. The re-construction may be of a similar structureat a different location, and can be added to,or remodeled. Thedesirability traits extend to insulating against any climatic conditionin such multiple sealed air chambers for walls, floors and roofs, asexperience demonstratesappropriate,

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation,-with parts broken away, of an embodiment'of the invention in a glass house;

Fig. 2 is a section on line IIII, Fig. 1, partly showing details ofwindow location, and multiple sheet wall from foundation to roof;

Fig. 3 shows, fragmentarily, wall sheets in their assembly on studs,looking from the wal1 outer side;

Fig. 4 is a section on line IV-IV, Fig. 1, showing wall construction ata building corner, also interior partition adjoining;

Fig, 5 is a detail view of a stud assembly; and

Fig. 6 shows how side walls or plates may be set to enclose upperstories of. any building, and shows upper floor construction.

a ceiling '7' 2", a convenient prefabrication to supplyto the job may beglass studs therefor. To this end a pair /1" thick glass strips 4, wirereinforced wher necessary, are of a width of 3" and 7' 2" length.Parallel glass spacers therealong may be 3" long, A" thick and 1 /2"wide, thus giving dimensions 2" x 3" for studs. Spacing of studs may be16" centers, more or less, as

Initial steps are taken according to the charmay be suited to dimensionsof wall sheets. With studs more sparse, or to withstand more load,strips 4 may be /2" or more in thickness and any inch width; andlikewise as to the number of spacers 5 and wire wraps. For economy inproduction and simplicity-for dimension material to be used hereunder,advantage arises in avoidance of special notching, or boring, andresultant weakening therefrom. Assembly of the strips 4 and the "spacers5 into a stud is efiected by stiff or soft pliable rustproof wire,having wraps I about strips 4, and additional wraps 8 to positionspacers 5 against shifting. Studs shall have /2"'ho1es 9 about every 18"for dowel anchors In which project outward 1" or more each way.

Spaced each side of the studs 4, 5, the foundation 3 shall have anchorwires II. There shall be a continuous base plate l2 stop foundationastride which the studs (Fig. 5) seat thereon. Upper free ends of wiresI I as drawn taut against opposite sides of the studs 4, 5 have a twistI3 about protruding ends of an adjacent dowel Ill and around oppositesides of the studs 4, 5.

At the top of a row of studs 4, 5; are plates l4. Horizontally extendingfrom on the plates M, are joists I5. These joists l5 are adapted toprovide mounting for a floor thereabove and a ceiling at the under side.

The studs l, 5, provide a skeleton upon which may be mounted plates H;to form a wall with break-joint clearance l1 between the plates to occurat the studs. The lower edge of the bottom plate l6 may be bedded inelastic putty base I 8.

Wire end portions 2| from the wire wraps for the studs, are located tobe accessible at the clearance regions l1 and there adapted to betwisted to form holding means for the plates l6 against the studs.

Gla ss furring plates 22 about /1" x 2" x 3"v may be set at studs onplates IS with transparent glue 23. All joints shall be sealed withelastic putty to form tight insulation spaces between glass plates.Stainless steel caps 26 are soldered 26' to wire 21 to pass throughclearances 24, I1, 2|, and have wraps 28 about the dowel III.

with frieze strips 29 held by hooks 30 from the top of'the plates 25,outer finish downward has only vertical clearance lines 24 of V width,with caps 26 spaced therealong, and vertical joints filled flush withelastic putty 32, with bedding and finish bevel 33 at the foundation 3(Fig. 2). The running of wires 21 from caps 26 through joints betweenthe outer plates 25 must be at a register of crosswise joints.

Between the plates I6, 25, there is a dead air or insulation space 34.In some practice additional insulation spaces may be effected byinclusion of more plates and/or multiple Cellophane sheets between thewall of the plates I6 and wall of the plates 25; between wall of theplates 35 and wall of the plates 42; and between wall of plates 48 andwall 01' plates 50.

Upon completion of setting of plates for wall on outside of the studs,the erector may locate a group of plates 35 bedded at stud wire wrapswith elastic putty on inner side of studs. Plates 35 and plates I6 maybe similar. All joints should be sealed with elastic putty. After an-'chor wires terminate in a twist, they have their ends 38 spread flatagainst surfaces 35 drawing such wall layer into wall assembly. Hooks 39caught over dowels II), with threaded portions 40 protruding throughclearance 4I between generally horizontally extending inner wall finishplates 42, have plates, washers, caps 43 threaded with hook portion 46as anchorage.

There is in the disclosure herein a four-ply wall with three airchambers for insulation. More air chambers may be used as climaticconditions require. Avoidance of register of joints at other thanintersections between plates of one layer and of layers parallelthereto, contributes to maintenance of separation of air chambers and tostability. Joint sealing is a further carrying forward of fullseparation between chambars 34, stud spacing chamber 44 and chamber 45.

Appropriate non-skid glass plates 46 form the floor finish. Suspendedglass plates 41 form the ceiling. To the extent insulation values areattained for side walls, there may be on joists I5 horizontal glassplates 48 with furring plates 49 spaced thereover at joints, with roofglass plate sections 56 thereon. Joints of floor, ceiling, roof and allinsulation glass shall be sealed with elastic putty.

Glass hood 52 may be held by struts 53 at entrance door 54. Anchoragefor metal posts 55 may position such posts to carry guard rails 56 asroof bounds for a deck provided by floor 50. A chimney 51 may have glassplates 58 as veneer over masonry. A cantilever joist structure 59 fromchimney 51 may have transparent glass plate roof 60. To form sleepingroom on main roof, curtains 6| may be lowered.

Window openings 62 are made of jamb plates 60 63 between plates 25 and42. Sill 64 has projection 65, two-ply insulation glass plate section66, set with top and bottom clips and sealed with elastic putty 61.Other than to locate frames for swinging doors, there need be no wood orother casing, base or trim of any kind.

The glass. joist or beam- I5 is built up from plates 68 as strips ofglass in on-edge parallel relation, with or without, as exigencyrequires,

, glass bottom plate I and upper plate I I. Interplate tension metalmembers [2 have metal supports at one or two points at bottom of glassin span length and metal blocks or washers I3 at upper supported ends ofjoint or beam, with nut or anchorage means I4 to hold ends of tensionmember or members 12 and wire wraps I about joist or beam to maintainthe assembly. In some practice, the studs, joists, beams may be precastglass with metal reenforcing rods and wire wraps 5 inside. Some practicemay give importance to the degree of translucency for the side walls ascompleted, even apart from the transparency of window space, and/orwindow space may be increased or entirely omitted.

Exposed glass edges are preferred to be finished rather than sharp cut.The structural set-up, where uniform thickness rolled or drawn sheetfiat glass faces are directly against each other, is desirable to havesame set with transparent waterproof glue. The elastic putty used toseal joints may be cut flush to surfaces; while otherwise concealed, oras exposed to weather on chimney, or roof, it may be a slight excess.

For door hood, floor tile, roof or deck, or any other parts requiringsame, wire glass may be adopted.

The exterior wall construction (glass studs with exterior and interiorglass finish plates and insulation chambers), the floor construction(glass joists with glass floor and ceiling plates), roof construction(glass joists with glass roof and ceiling plates and insulationchambers), and interior partitions (glass studs and Walls) may -all beused for buildings of few stories, the same as described for thebungalow. Similarly, all

this construction may be used for the completion of multi-storiedbuildings of steel framing, or other skeleton framing.

The showing (Fig. 6) is a metal beam, joist or girder I9 with acontinuous Z-bar 8|] welded thereto. Z-bar 8n, is here shown to carryouter plates 25 for each story upward.

At exposed'outer corners of the building, angle caps BI may have wires82 therefrom to wend through joints between plates 25 and I6, thencearound a stud outer side to have twist anchorage 83 at dowels ID oraround any wrap wires of studs. With each angle cap 6| thus pulled tauteach way and anchored to corner studs, there is 5 completed rigidassembly.

In view of the possibility hereunder of glass practically throughout,the resultant structure avoids hazard from lightning, and withtranslucency affords maximum light. Razingand reconstructing does notinvolve loss, waste nor rubbish. The glass building is airtight, dry,avoids moisture problems, and there is no seasoning, drying out orshrinkage. The glass will come to job ready to set in place, with butthe simplest of labor and only two tools required for erection-pliersand putty knife. The glass once set, the structure is completed, with noneed for many involving materials and trades, as the in-' terior andexterior are of themselves finished.

What is claimed and it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A building unit comprising a plurality of framing elements, andfacing panels applied to opposite faces of said elements, each framingelement comprising a pair of elongated strips,

means for maintatining said strips in spaced parallel relation, pinsextending through said strips and bridging said space, said elementsbeing positioned with their long edge faces directed to- 70 ward thefacing panels; adjacent panels being positioned with their end edgeportions overlying a space between a pair of the strip forming a framingelement, said edge portions there being in substantial-abutment, andmeans having a part engaging the outer faces of adjacent wall panelsposed rigid and another part extending between said abutment-approachingedge portions and attached to said pins for securing said panels inassembled relation with said framing elements.

2. A building unit comprising aplurality of framing elements, and facingpanels applied to opposite faces of said elements, each framing elementcomprising a pair of flat side strips, intermeans resting againstopposing fiat sides of the pair of strips to maintain the strips inspaced parallel relation, said elements being positioned with their longedge faces directed toward the facing panels; adjacent panels beingpositioned with their edge portions overlying a space between a pair ofthe strips forming a framing element, said edge portions of the panelsthere approaching substantial abutment, and ,means having a partengaging the outer faces of adjacent wall panels and extending therefrombetween said abutment-approaching edge portions and provided withanchorage connection with the assembled strips of the framing element.

3. A building unit comprising a plurality of framing elements, andfacing panels applied to opposite faces of said elements, each framingele- 'ment comprising a pair of elongated flat strips,

rectangular fiat plates with their bounding edges determining planestransversely of the extent of the strips for maintaining the strips inspaced parallel relation, pins extending through said strips to protrudefrom opposite sides thereof and bridging the space, said elements beingpositioned with their long edge faces directed toward the facing panels;adjacent panels being positioned with their end edge portions overlyinga space between a pair of the strips forming a framing element, saidedge portions there approaching substantial abutment, and mean engagingthe outer faces of adjacent wall panels and extending therefrom betweensaid abutmentapproaching edge portions and attached to said pin forsecuring said panels in assembled relation with said framing elements.

4. A building unit comprising a plurality of framing elements and facingpanels of flat glass applied to opposite faces of said elements, eachframing element comprising a pair of elongated fiat glass strips, flatglass spacing block for maintaining the strips in spaced parallelrelation, said framing element strips having perforations in alignment,pins extending through said perforations of the respective strips andbridging the space, said elements being positioned with their long edgefaces directed toward the facing panels; adjacent panels beingpositioned with their end edge portions overlyinga space between a pairof the strips forming a framing element, said edge portions thereapproaching substantial abutment, and wire means having a part engagingthe outer faces of adjacent wall panels and another part extendingbetween said abutment-approaching edge portions and attached to saidpins for securing said panels in assembled relation with said framingelements.

JOSEPH C. HUBER, J n

